Laatste artikelen van Law and Method<p>The Dutch-based journal <em>Law and Method</em> focuses on methodological issues of law and legal scholarship, in both research and education.<br /><br />Topics discussed in the journal include: legal interpretation, legal argumentation, legislative methods, the connections between legal scholarship and legal practice, academic learning, and new multi- and interdisciplinary approaches in legal scholarship and legal education.<br /><br />It welcomes contributions in either English or Dutch. Contributions can be submitted via <a href="http://www.editorialmanager.com/lawandmethod">http://www.editorialmanager.com/lawandmethod</a>.<br /><br />For more information, please contact the editorial office <a href="mailto:lawandmethod@boomdenhaag.nl." target="_blank">lawandmethod@boomdenhaag.nl</a>.<br /><br /><br />ISSN <span>2352-7927</span></p>https://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/journals/lawandmethod
Kestemont, Handbook on Legal Methodology. A ReviewMon, 14 Jan 2019 10:09:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2019/1/lawandmethod-D-18-00012
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2019/1/lawandmethod-D-18-00012Law, Imagination and Poetry. Using Poetry as a Means of Learning. Special Issue on Active Learning and Teaching in Legal Education<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article builds upon the work of James Boyd White as well as on Shelley’s ‘A defence of Poetry’ (1840) and reports upon an experiment in which students use poetry as a means to understand philosophical texts. The experiment had a double goal: first, I sought to challenge students in reading a philosophical text differently with an aim to better understand the text. The second goal was to challenge students to think about the text differently, more critically and analyse its relevance for the contemporary world. In the end, using imagination, is the claim, contributes to students finding their own ‘voice’.</p> </ul>
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 14:21:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2019/1/lawandmethod-D-18-00011
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2019/1/lawandmethod-D-18-00011Critical Writing Skills in Legal Education. Special Issue on Active Learning and Teaching in Legal Education<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In legal education, criticism is conceived as an academic activity. As lecturers, we expect from students more than just the expression of their opinion; they have to evaluate and criticize a certain practice, building on a sound argumentation and provide suggestions on how to improve this practice. Criticism not only entails a negative judgment but is also constructive since it aims at changing the current state of affairs that it rejects (for some reason or other). In this article, we want to show how we train critical writing in the legal skills course for first-year law students (<em>Juridische vaardigheden</em>) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. We start with a general characterization of the skill of critical writing on the basis of four questions: 1. Why should we train critical writing? 2. What does criticism mean in a legal context? 3. How to carry out legal criticism? and 4. How to derive recommendations from the criticism raised? Subsequently, we discuss, as an illustration to the last two questions, the Dutch <em>Urgenda</em> case, which gave rise to a lively debate in the Netherlands on the role of the judge. Finally, we show how we have applied our general understanding of critical writing to our legal skills course. We describe the didactic approach followed and our experiences with it.</p> </ul>
Thu, 03 Jan 2019 11:28:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2019/1/lawandmethod-D-18-00010
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2019/1/lawandmethod-D-18-00010Time to Play: Integrating Play and Playfulness in Legal Philosophical Courses as Tools for Student Learning. Special Issue on Active Learning and Teaching in Legal Education<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article introduces the concepts of play and playfulness within the context of legal-philosophical education. I argue that integrating play and playfulness in legal education engages students and prepares them for dealing with the perpetual uncertainty of late modernity that they will face as future legal professionals. This article therefore aims to outline the first contours of a useful concept of play and playfulness in legal education. Drawing on the work of leading play-theorists Huizinga, Caillois, Lieberman and Csikszentmihalyi, play within legal education can be described as a (1) partly voluntary activity that (2) enables achievement of learning goals, (3) is consciously separate from everyday life by rules and/or make believe, (4) has its own boundaries in time and space, (5) entails possibility, tension and uncertainty and (6) promotes the formation of social grouping. Playfulness is a lighthearted state of mind associated with curiosity, creativity, spontaneity and humor. Being playful also entails being able to cope with uncertainty. The integration of these concepts of play and playfulness in courses on jurisprudence will be illustrated by the detailed description of three play and playful activities integrated in the course ‘Introduction to Legal Philosophy’ at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.</p> </ul>
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 11:29:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/11/lawandmethod-D-18-00005
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/11/lawandmethod-D-18-00005Teaching Philosophy and Ethics through the Law and Literature Course in Today’s Turkey. Special Issue on Active Learning and Teaching in Legal Education<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Jurisprudence is a domain related to terms such as rules, morality, principles, equality, justice, etc. Legal scholars have to teach the meaning of these terms. However, these are not terms, one can comprehend by just reading their standard definition. These are terms one must digest and learn to use. My argument is that literature or the law and literature movement can be used as a tool in order to explain and discuss these terms. For instance, beyond simply explaining or teaching legal positivism and natural law, Antigone helps students reflect upon the distinction between them. To cite another example, reading Nana can help students think about sex-workers in a way they would never think before. Moreover, the literature can be a useful means in teaching critical movements in law, such as critical legal studies, feminist legal theory and critical race theory. Finally, the terms I stated at the beginning are not only terms of jurisprudence, they are terms we should use properly in order to construct a healthy legal environment. Therefore, to get students comprehend these terms is a crucially important aim. I argue that literature can be a tool in order to achieve this aim.</p> </ul>
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 15:23:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/11/lawandmethod-D-18-00006
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/11/lawandmethod-D-18-00006Editorial Special Issue - Comparative LawTue, 13 Nov 2018 12:31:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/11/lawandmethod-D-18-00008
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/11/lawandmethod-D-18-00008Educating the Legal Imagination. Special Issue on Active Learning and Teaching in Legal Education<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This paper presents a basic model of the imagination and offers pedagogical resources and activities for educating three related abilities to imagine. The basic model is that to imagine is to combine the process of awareness, framing and distancing, and the process of, simultaneously actively participate, by doing things with and thanks to artefacts. Artefacts, in turn, are fabricated forms (here, forms of language) that signal their own artifice and invite us to do things with them, across a spectrum of sensory, kinetic, and affective abilities. Modelled in this way, imagination plays a crucial role in legal reasoning, and is exemplified by the following kinds of artefacts in legal discourse: fictions, metaphors, hypothetical scenarios and figuration. These artefacts and their related processes of imagination are vital to legal reasoning at many levels, including the level of the individual lawyer or judge, the level of interaction in courtrooms, and the level of legal language over time. The paper offers nine learning activities corresponding to educating three abilities in the legal context: 1) to take epistemic distance and participate; 2) to generate alternatives and possibilities; and 3) to construct mental imagery.</p> </ul>
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 14:24:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/10/lawandmethod-D-18-00007
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/10/lawandmethod-D-18-00007Linking Legal Scenarios to Empirical Data<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Different legal rules can lead to the same observable outcome, making it difficult to identify the most influential rule. This article addresses this gap by focusing on how competing explanatory theories derived from a doctrinal analysis can be assessed using a methodology called process-tracing. One of process-tracing’s main uses is to link explanatory theories to empirical evidence, permitting an assessment of causal mechanisms’ practical impact in comparison to each other. This article demonstrates the potential and practical implementation of process-tracing in the context of empirical legal research. In addition to the core characteristics of process-tracing, the paper clarifies when process-tracing can add to a doctrinal analysis and the requirements which have to be met. Furthermore, the process of linking doctrinal work with empirical evidence relying on process-tracing is shown, using the example of copyright ownership in the broadcasting sector. As a result, this paper demonstrates the added value of a process-tracing analysis carried out in addition to doctrinal work, in particular the insights into industry practice it generates.</p> </ul>
Mon, 01 Oct 2018 17:13:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/09/lawandmethod-D-17-00003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/09/lawandmethod-D-17-00003Law and Economics’ Responses to the Threat of Its Initial Success<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This paper starts by reviewing empirical research that threatens law and economics’ initial success. This research has demonstrated that the functioning of the law cannot be well understood based on the assumption of the rational actor and that policies which are based on this assumption are likely to be flawed. Subsequently, three responses to this criticism are discussed. Whereas the first response denounces this criticism by maintaining that the limitations attributed to the rational actor can easily be incorporated in rational choice theory, the second response welcomes the criticism as an opportunity to come up with an integrative theory of law and behavior. The third response also takes the criticism seriously but replaces the aspiration to come up with such an integrative theory by a context-sensitive approach. It will be argued that the first two responses fall short while the third response offers a promising way to go forward.</p> </ul>
Fri, 05 Oct 2018 09:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/09/lawandmethod-D-18-00001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/09/lawandmethod-D-18-00001Theoretical and Normative Frameworks for Legal Research: Putting Theory into Practice<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Legal doctrinal scholarship engages with the problems of legal practice: it systematizes, comments on, evaluates and debates what goes on in law. These activities do not occur in a vacuum: they are embedded in scholarly traditions and theories. This paper discusses the role of the theoretical frameworks used in legal research and has two related aims. First, it aims to provide some practical conceptualizations and guidelines regarding theoretical and normative frameworks that are useful to understand and conduct legal research. Second, it aims to investigate the relationships between different kinds of normative frameworks and their relationship to empirical work. In the second part, an argument is made for a pragmatist understanding of the interplay between normative theorizing and empirical study. How do these work together in judgments about the state of the law?</p> </ul>
Thu, 08 Mar 2018 17:12:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/02/lawandmethod-D-17-00010
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2018/02/lawandmethod-D-17-00010Comparative Rights Jurisprudence: An Essay on Methodologies. Special Issue - Comparative Law<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This paper discusses three approaches that can be helpful in the area of comparative rights jurisprudence, oriented in reference to three different kinds of studies that are possible in that area. To a large extent the methods for a comparative legal research depend on the research question and the goal of the researcher. First, a comparative law study may focus on the sociocultural context that led to the elaboration of differences or similarities in the protection of rights. Second, a comparative law approach can be a normative enterprise. It can focus on engaging in a philosophical analysis enlightened by the differences or similarities in the regulation of rights, in order to propose concrete solutions for the regulation of a right. Third, a comparative law approach can combine both elements of the two previously mentioned approaches. The paper discusses the challenges that the researcher faces in her attempt to use these methodologies and how these challenges can be overcome. The law as a normative discipline has its own constraints of justifiability. If what motivates a comparative law study is the search for principles of justice the researcher needs to persuade that her methodological approach serves her aim.</p> </ul>
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 14:42:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/11/lawandmethod-D-17-00008
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/11/lawandmethod-D-17-00008Big Law, Big Data. Special Issue - Comparative Law<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>It is often claimed in the media and in political and academic debates that more law nurtures more research, which in turn should generate more information. However, the question researchers are left with is: What does this mean for comparative law and its methods? This paper takes the context of European consumer sales law as an example of the web of rules applicable at both European and national level. In this context, the main idea behind this article is that looking at law and research as data to be built upon and used in further analysis can revolutionise the way in which legal research is understood. This is because current research methods in European consumer sales law fall short of systematically analysing the essential weaknesses of the current regulation system. In this contribution, I argue that the volume of regulation in European consumer law is large enough for it to be considered Big Data and analysed in a way that can harness its potential in this respect. I exemplify this claim with a case-study consisting in the setting up of a Convergence Index that maps the converging effect of harmonizing policies adopted by the European legislator in the field of</p> </ul>
Tue, 05 Dec 2017 14:48:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/10/lawandmethod-D-17-00007
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/10/lawandmethod-D-17-00007Comparative Law and Religion: Three-Dimensional (3D) Approach. Special Issue - Comparative Law<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>The nexus between religion and law is an important subject of comparative law. This paper, however, finds that the majority of comparative theorists rely on the immanent frame; that legal legitimacy can and should be separated from any objective truth or moral norm. But the fact of the matter is many constitutional systems were founded based on a complicated mixture between the transcendent and immanent frame. Whereas in the immanent frame, human actions are considered self-constituting, in the transcendent frame, human actions were judged in light of their correspondence to higher, divine laws and purposes.<br/>This article argues that it is not sufficient for comparative theorists to offer a perspective from the immanent frame. Comparative theorists in law and religion should understand at least basic religious doctrines and know how to systematize those doctrines. In other words, comparative theorist of law and religion should work within the transcendent frame. By using a transcendent frame, comparative theorists will be able to excavate the underlying structure of religion, and so they will understand better how theological ideas influence law. Furthermore, this paper will also present a thought experiment in applying the transcendent frame in comparative constitutional studies.</p> </ul>
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 18:21:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/10/lawandmethod-D-17-00006
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/10/lawandmethod-D-17-00006Case selection in Comparative Law based on Hofstede’s Cultural Psychology Theory. Special Issue – Comparative Law<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Comparative methodology is an important and a widely used method in the legal literature. This method is important inter alia to search for alternative national rules and acquire a deeper understanding of a country’s law. According to a survey of over 500 Dutch legal scholars, 61 per cent conducts comparative research (in some form). However, the methodological application of comparative research generally leaves much to be desired. This is particularly true when it comes to case selection. This applies in particular to conceptual and dogmatic research questions, possibly also allowing causal explanations for differences between countries. This article suggests that the use of an interdisciplinary research design could be helpful, and Hofstede’s cultural-psychological dimensions can offer a solution to improve the methodology of selection criteria.</p> </ul>
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 17:54:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/10/lawandmethod-D-17-00005
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/10/lawandmethod-D-17-00005Challenges in Comparative Constitutional Law Studies: Between Globalization and Constitutional Tradition. Special Issue - Comparative Law<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In the last few decades, we have witnessed the renaissance of Comparative Constitutional law as field of research. Despite such a flourishing, the methodological foundations and the ultimate <em>ratio</em> of Constitutional comparative law are still debated among scholars. This article starts from the definition of comparative constitutional law given by one of the most prominent comparative constitutional law scholars in Italy, prof. Bognetti, who defined comparative constitutional law as the main joining ring between the historical knowledge of the modern law and the history of the humankind in general and of its various civil realizations. Comparative constitutional law is in other words a kind of mirror of the “competing vision of who we are and who we wish to be as a political community” (Hirschl), reflecting the structural tension between universalism and particularism, globalization and tradition.<br/>The article aims at addressing the main contemporary methodological challenges faced by the studies of the field. The article argues that contemporary comparative constitutional studies should address these challenges integrating the classical “horizontal” comparative method with a vertical one - regarding the international and supranational influences on constitutional settings - and fostering an interdisciplinary approach, taking into account the perspective of the social sciences.</p> </ul>
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 19:00:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/10/lawandmethod-D-17-00009
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/10/lawandmethod-D-17-00009What’s in a Game? Legal Positivism as ‘Still Descriptive and Morally Neutral’<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Both H.L.A. Hart and John Searle repeatedly refer to games in their work on the concept of law and the construction of social reality respectively. We can argue that this is not a coincidence, Hart’s analysis of law as a system of primary and secondary rules bears close resemblances to Searle’s analysis of social reality as a system of regulative and constitutive rules and the comparison to games leads to interesting insights about the ontology of law and legal epistemology. The present article explores both the institutional theory of law that can be devised on the basis of the work of Hart and Searle, the method of analytical philosophy they employ and the particular consequences that can be deduced for legal research from the resulting legal theory.</p> </ul>
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 14:31:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/09/lawandmethod-D-16-00001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/09/lawandmethod-D-16-00001Comparative Law and Federalising Processes: Methodological Insights. Special Issue - Comparative Law<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>The article discusses the contribution of comparative law to the study of federalism and decentralisation. In doing so, it stresses the relevance of the notion of federalising process, as elaborated by Carl J. Friedrich.</p> </ul>
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 18:58:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/09/lawandmethod-D-17-00004
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/09/lawandmethod-D-17-00004Should Jurists Take Interests More Seriously?<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>The purpose of this article is to investigate whether the notion of an interest should be taken more seriously than the notion of a right. It will be argued that it should; and not only because it can be just as amenable to the institutional taxonomical structure often said to be at the basis of rights thinking in law but also because the notion of an interest has a more epistemologically convincing explanatory power with respect to reasoning in law and its relation to social facts. The article equally aims to highlight some of the important existing work on the notion of an interest in law.</p> </ul>
Thu, 05 Oct 2017 12:29:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/08/lawandmethod-D-17-00002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/08/lawandmethod-D-17-00002Pursuing Legal Research<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>By conducting methodological assessments, legal researchers decide which lines of inquiry are worth pursuing. Two aspects of such assessments are highlighted in this article. The first aspect is to construct promising lines of inquiry. The second aspect is to clarify provisionally the potential of various promising lines of inquiry. Clarifying and calibrating such potential through discourse with fellow researchers are essential. Increased awareness of how legal researchers decide which lines of inquiry are worth pursuing is vital to contemporary discourse about legal methodology.</p> </ul>
Wed, 09 Aug 2017 11:19:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/06/lawandmethod-D-16-00003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2017/06/lawandmethod-D-16-00003Introduction Special Issue Stumbling Blocks in Empirical Legal ResearchThu, 10 Nov 2016 10:43:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/10/lawandmethod-D-16-00005
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/10/lawandmethod-D-16-00005Statistical Analyses of Court Decisions: An Example of Multilevel Models of Sentencing<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Quantitative empirical research into legal decisions must be conducted using statistical tools that are appropriate for the data involved. Court decisions are one example of a domain where the data is intrinsically hierarchical (i.e., multilevel), since decisions are made on individual cases by decision-makers in courts located across geographical (or jurisdictional) areas. Past research into court decisions has often either neglected higher level variables or incorrectly used single-level statistical models to analyze multilevel data. The lack of a clear understanding about when and why multilevel statistical models are required may have contributed to this situation. In this paper, we identify the problems of estimating single-level models on hierarchically structured data, and consider the advantages of conducting multilevel analyses under these circumstances. We use the example of criminal sentencing research to illustrate the arguments for the use of multilevel models and against a single-level approach. We also highlight some issues to be addressed in future sentencing studies.</p> </ul>
Thu, 10 Nov 2016 10:55:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/10/lawandmethod-D-15-00011
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/10/lawandmethod-D-15-00011Stumbling Blocks in Empirical Legal Research: Case Study Research<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article examines the main assumptions and theoretical underpinnings of case study method in legal studies. It considers the importance of research design, including the crucial roles of the academic literature review, the research question and the use of rival theories to develop hypotheses and the practice of identifying the observable implications of those hypotheses. It considers the selection of data sources and modes of analysis to allow for valid analytical inferences to be drawn in respect of them. In doing so it considers, in brief, the importance of case study selection and variations such as single or multi case approaches. Finally it provides thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses associated with undertaking socio-legal and comparative legal research via a case study method, addressing frequent stumbling blocks encountered by legal researchers, as well as ways to militate them. It is written with those new to the method in mind.</p> </ul>
Thu, 10 Nov 2016 09:43:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/10/lawandmethod-D-15-00007
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/10/lawandmethod-D-15-00007Conducting Sensitive Interviews: A Review of Reflections<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Sensitive interviews involve emotionally difficult topics which require participants to face issues that are deeply personal and possibly distressing. This paper draws together reflections concerning how researchers manage the challenges of conducting sensitive interviews, including the author’s own reflections concerning interviewing clinical negligence claimants. First, it examines the ethical guidelines that regulate sensitive research, and the challenges of obtaining informed consent and maintaining confidentiality. Ethical guidelines, however, provide limited assistance for ensuring the emotional care of research participants, and we also consider challenges that are not usually formally regulated. These include preparing for the interview, and then ensuring the emotional care of participants both during and after the interview itself. Sensitive research also raises deeper ethical issues concerning the negotiation of relations between researcher and participant, especially when this relationship is unequal. Finally, while previous research has generally focused on the need to take emotional care of research participants, less attention has been given to the emotional needs of researchers. It is argued that support systems for researchers are too often ad hoc, and that providing support is often not a priority of granting bodies, grant holders or supervisors, and that formal systems need to be put in place.</p> </ul>
Tue, 12 Jul 2016 11:05:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/05/lawandmethod-D-15-00008
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/05/lawandmethod-D-15-00008Problems of Authority in Law and Anthropology: A Case Study on Aboriginal Australian Inheritance<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In this article I argue that the major issue in taxonomies of interdisciplinary research is the problem of authority. In a project on the needs of Aboriginal Australians in inheritance, involving interdisciplinary research using law (in both common law and customary law form) and anthropology, issues of translateability and truth/validity arose. Issues for the Aboriginal people included problems of identifying the correct kin, dealing with the body, and protecting customary law information and secrecy, all matters which the customary law could handle but which were not recognised by Australian common law. Because the characterization of these matters in law is often characterized as a problem of authority the article explores the various different ways forms of authority in law and anthropology exist and how they might clash. Because the anthropology concerned was about Aboriginal Customary Law there seemed to be a double problem of authority which needed to be resolved in order to ensure that the connections between the disciplines were clear and the inheritance issues could be resolved.</p> </ul>
Tue, 12 Jul 2016 10:17:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/05/lawandmethod-D-16-00002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/05/lawandmethod-D-16-00002Legal Research when Relying on Open Access: a Primer<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>With more and more information disclosed online and with open-access policies on the rise, legal academic research is becoming more accessible. The potential impact of this development is enormous, particularly in areas or jurisdictions where offline information is scarce and where access to subscription-based journals or books is limited or non-existing. Because the current literature lacks materials that guide researchers who conduct legal research while relying on open access, this article discusses where and how to find and select relevant academic books, journal articles, and working papers in the open access world. The resources, selection tools, and search strategies explained in this article particularly focus on finding open access sources in English. Consequently, this article assists researchers who rely on materials that are freely accessible because they lack access to books and to subscription-based journals outside of their own jurisdiction. The section on search strategy is relevant for researchers who aim to identify sources in an effective and efficient way.</p> </ul>
Wed, 06 Jul 2016 09:38:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/04/lawandmethod-D-15-00005
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/04/lawandmethod-D-15-00005A Young Person’s Guide to Empirical Legal Research. With Illustrations from the Field of Medical Malpractice<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Legal novices are generally not very well educated in the do’s and don’ts of empirical legal research. This article lays out the general principles and discusses the most important stumbling blocks on the way forward. The presentation starts at the formulation of a research question. Next, the methodology of descriptive research (operationalization and measurement, sampling and selection bias) is briefly addressed. The main part of the article discusses the methodology of explanatory research (causal inference, experimental and quasi-experimental research designs, statistical significance, effect size). Medical malpractice law is used as a central source of illustration.</p> </ul>
Wed, 06 Jul 2016 09:50:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/04/lawandmethod-D-15-00009
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/04/lawandmethod-D-15-00009On Experiments in Empirical Legal Research<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>The current paper presents some observations on experiments in empirical legal research. The paper notes some strengths and weakness of the experimental method. The paper distinguishes between experiments run in controlled laboratory settings and experiments conducted in field settings and notes the different goals the different types of experiments generally have. The paper identifies important stumbling blocks that legal researchers who are new to setting up experiments may face and proposes that focusing the research in a constructive and independent way is important to overcome these problems. The necessity of running multiple studies to overcome other problems are discussed as well. When conducted in this way, experiments may serve an important role in the field of empirical legal studies and may help to further explore the exciting issues of law, society, and human behavior.</p> </ul>
Wed, 13 Apr 2016 14:07:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/03/lawandmethod-D-15-00006
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2016/03/lawandmethod-D-15-00006Methodology of Comparative Legal Research<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In this paper, an attempt is made to work out a methodology for comparative legal research, which goes beyond the ‘functional method’ or methodological scepticism.<br/>The starting point is the idea that we need a ‘toolbox’, not a fixed methodological road map, and that a lot of published, but largely unnoticed, research outside rule and case oriented comparative law offers varying approaches, which could usefully be applied in comparative research. Six methods have been identified: the functional method, the structural one, the analytical one, the law-in-context method, the historical method, and the common core method. Basically, it is the aim of the research and the research question that will determine which methods could be useful. Moreover, different methods may be combined, as they are complementary and not mutually exclusive.This paper focuses on scholarly comparative legal research, not on the use of foreign law by legislators or courts, but, of course, the methodological questions and answers will largely overlap.</p> </ul>
Thu, 31 Mar 2016 11:36:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/12/RENM-D-14-00001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/12/RENM-D-14-00001Dworkin’s Constructive Interpretation as a Method of Legal Research.<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Central to this contribution is the question whether Dworkin’s theory of constructive interpretation as a method of applying law for the judge, can be used as a method of legal-dogmatic research. Constructive interpretation is a method of legal interpretation that aims to find a normative unity in the diversity of rules that characterize a legal system. In order to find an answer to this question, the key elements of Dworkin’s theory are explained and applied to the author’s PhD research. Methodological difficulties that could give rise to problems when applying Dworkin’s theory, are investigated. In the end, the author concludes that since the judge and the scholar use quite the same methods when interpreting law, the principles of constructivism should fit legal research well, even though some aspects of Dworkin’s theory are difficult to operationalize in practice. As a leading notion however, constructivism constitutes a workable method of legal research.</p> </ul>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 11:18:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/12/lawandmethod-D-14-00004
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/12/lawandmethod-D-14-00004Lessen geleerd: onderwerp, object, en theoretisch kader van rechtswetenschappelijk onderzoekFri, 12 Feb 2016 11:17:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/12/lawandmethod-D-15-00010
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/12/lawandmethod-D-15-00010Recht en Utilisme Een pleidooi voor het utilisme als richtlijn voor de wetgever<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In this article I plead for utilitarianism as guideline for the editor. The article consists mostly of rebuttals of a number of traditional objections against utilitarianism. In particular (but not exclusively) the following objections are discussed:<br/> <ol><li><p><p>It is impossible to predict the consequences of legislative measures.</p></p></li><li><p><p>Legislation should be evaluated procedurally (democratically), rather than by a substantive standard.</p></p></li><li><p><p>Utilitarianism allows the sacrifice of the interests or even rights of some on behalf of those of others.</p></p></li><li><p><p>Utilitarianism leads to results that are sometimes strongly counterintuitive.</p></p></li></ol><br/>A substantial part of the article consists of a discussion of coherentism as method for, amongst others, normative reasoning.</p> </ul>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 10:35:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/11/lawandmethod-D-15-00003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/11/lawandmethod-D-15-00003Law and Functionalism: The Limited Function of Law<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This paper raises two methodological questions from a philosophical perspective: (i) what is involved in a functionalist approach to law and (ii) what should be the focus of such an approach? To answer these questions, I will take two steps with both. To begin with, I argue that Pettit’s view on functionalist approaches may be made relevant for law; functionalist accounts target a virtual mechanism that explains why a system will be resilient under changes in either the system or its environment. Secondly, I make a distinction between two interpretations of his key-concept ‘resilience’, one in mechanical, the other in teleological terms. With regard to the second question I will take two steps as well. I argue why it does not make sense to ascribe wide functions to law, followed by a plea for a limited view on the function of law. This limited view is based on a teleological understanding of the law’s resilience. I argue that these two modes are interrelated in ways that are relevant for the interdisciplinary study of law.</p> </ul>
Mon, 22 Jun 2015 13:15:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/04/lawandmethod-D-15-00001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2015/04/lawandmethod-D-15-00001Using the Think-Aloud Method to Gather Data on What it Takes to Comprehend a Legal Decision<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In this article the Think-Aloud Method, a method used in problem solving research in Psychology, is used in legal research to gather data on how novices, expert beginners and experts read, structure and analyse legal decisions. In the Dutch legal system decisions by judges are a major source of law. So it is important that law students learn to read, structure and analyse legal decisions. However, reading and understanding a decision does not go without saying, it has to be learned. The data we gather using the Think-Aloud Method are used to improve instruction to support the effective and efficient learning of comprehending legal decisions. We describe the Think-Aloud Method, our experimental design and our approach for analysing the protocols.</p> </ul>
Tue, 27 Jan 2015 15:05:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/12/RENM-D-13-00001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/12/RENM-D-13-00001Discovery and Justification of Judicial Decisions: Towards More Precise Distinctions in Legal Decision-Making<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article shows that the debate about the possibility and desirability of a rigid distinction between discovery and justification is being muddled because of differences and ambiguities in the way that different writers use the terms ‘discovery,’ ‘justification,’ and related terms. The article argues that merely distinguishing between ‘discovery’ and ‘justification’ is not precise enough, and that we should make a distinction between different elements within each of these contexts. I propose a six-fold classification, through which we can identify reasons, acts, and processes that play a role both in the context of discovery and in the context of justification. This six-fold classification enables us to move forward from debating whether discovery and justification can be rigidly separated, towards articulating how each element (reasons, acts, and processes) has a role to play in each of the contexts (discovery and justification), and how these elements and contexts are related.</p> </ul>
Tue, 27 Jan 2015 10:10:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/09/RENM-D-14-00003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/09/RENM-D-14-00003Publishing Online: A New Direction and Some Methodological ConsequencesWed, 05 Nov 2014 13:58:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/07/RENM-D-14-00002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/07/RENM-D-14-00002Source-usage within doctrinal legal inquiry: choices, problems, and challenges<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article provides an overview of the methodological challenges that scholars are confronted with in relation to use of legislation, case law and literature commentaries within doctrinal legal inquiry. Therefore it employs a systematic literature review and a supplementary explorative expert-consultation among legal scholars of Tilburg University. Although the scope of the research is still limited, it shows that doctrinal legal inquiry is subjected to more and other methodological challenges surrounding the source-usage than one might expect. This insight may contribute to the further development of the meta-discipline ’law and methodology’ and simultaneously allows for more methodological awareness among doctrinal legal scholars.</p> </ul>
Wed, 29 Oct 2014 10:07:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/06/RENM-D-13-00003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/06/RENM-D-13-00003An Allocation Perspective to Public Law: Limited Public Rights and Beyond<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Public law is sometimes said to deal with distributive justice. Such allocation issues are at least very dominant when public authorities grant only a limited number of public rights (authorizations, subsidies, etc.) and the number of applicants exceeds this maximum. The characteristics common to these ’limited public rights’ raise the question whether there are some general allocation rules applying to any allocation of limited public rights. This article shows how economic allocation theory can be helpful in constructing general allocation rules as a corollary of general legal principles. Allocation theory turns out to provide for general concepts and results clarifying general allocation rules and revealing mutual connections. Extending this allocation perspective from limited public rights to public law in general requires the hidden allocation issues in public law to be unveiled.</p> </ul>
Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:23:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/05/RENM-D-13-00006
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/05/RENM-D-13-00006Interviewing Judges in the Transnational Context<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article addresses the problem of qualitative interviewing in the field of legal studies, and more precisely the practice of interviewing judges. In the last five years the authors of this article conducted two different research projects which involved interviewing judges as a research method. In this article the authors share their experience and views on the qualitative interviewing method, and provide the reader with an overview of the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ attached to this tool, but also its advantages and disadvantages.</p> </ul>
Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:22:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/05/RENM-D-13-00002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/05/RENM-D-13-00002Observeren in de rechtszaal<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Vrijwel alle rechtenstudenten krijgen vroeg of laat in hun studie de opdracht om eens een kijkje te nemen bij de rechtbank. Er is echter niet of nauwelijks literatuur over hoe ze dat zouden kunnen aanpakken. Dit artikel beoogt in die leemte te voorzien. Het doel is om studenten methodologische bagage mee te geven, waarmee een observatieopdracht op een hoger niveau kan worden getild. Promovendi of andere onderzoekers die observatieonderzoek willen verrichten, kunnen daar ook hun voordeel mee doen.</p> </ul>
Fri, 09 May 2014 12:07:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/03/RENM-D-13-00004
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2014/03/RENM-D-13-00004Alternative Methodologies: Learning Critique as a Skill<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>How can we teach critical legal education? The article tackles this key question by focusing on the role of methodology in legal education and research. I argue that critical legal education requires marketing methodology as a ‘skill’, thereby freeing it from what students and researchers in Law often view as the negative connotations of ‘theory’. This skill requires exploring ‘alternative methodologies’ – those critical perspectives that depart from legal positivism and which Law traditionally regards as ‘peripheral’. As an example, the article explores the Foucauldian concept of governmentality as a useful methodological tool. The article also discusses the difference between theory, methodology and method, and reviews current academic contributions on law and method(ology). Ultimately, it suggests a need for a ‘revolt of conduct’ in legal education. Perhaps then we might hope for students that are not docile and disengaged (despite being successful lawyers) but, rather, able to nurture an attitude that allows for ‘thinking’ (law) critically.</p> </ul>
Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:51:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_002Academic LearningMon, 25 Nov 2013 10:51:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_001‘I’d like to learn what hegemony means’<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This contribution explores the possibility of teaching international law in a critical fashion. I examine whether the training which is taking place at law schools is establishing and sustaining a cultural hegemony (a term borrowed from Antonio Gramsci). I ask whether the current focus on technical practice-oriented teaching is a condition which should be questioned, even disrupted? In my thoughts on reorientations of this culture, a central term is the German word Bildung. Bildung refers to knowledge and education as an end in itself (John Dewey) as well as an organic process (Hegel), and therefore incorporates a wider understanding than the English word ‘education’. In terms of international law, a notion of Bildung allows us to acknowledge the political nature of the discipline; it may even allow us to ‘politicize’ our students.</p> </ul>
Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:51:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_006
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_006Empirical Facts: A Rationale for Expanding Lawyers’ Methodological Expertise<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article examines the importance of the social evidence base in relation to the development of the law. It argues that there is a need for those lawyers who play a part in law reform (legislators and those involved in the law reform process) and for those who play a part in formulating policy-based common law rules (judges and practitioners) to know more about how facts are established in the social sciences. It argues that lawyers need sufficient knowledge and skills in order to be able to critically assess the facts and evidence base when examining new legislation and also when preparing, arguing and determining the outcomes of legal disputes. For this reason the article argues that lawyers need enhanced training in empirical methodologies in order to function effectively in modern legal contexts.</p> </ul>
Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:51:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_005
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_005Skeptical Legal Education<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Law teachers at the university want students to develop a critical attitude. But what exactly does it mean to be critical and why is it important to be critical? How can a critical attitude be promoted? In this article we intend to elucidate the role that critical thinking may play in legal education. We will introduce the idea of skeptical legal education, which is to a large extent based on Michael Oakeshott’s understanding of liberal learning but which relativizes its insistence on the non-instrumentality of learning and reinforces its critical potential. Subsequently, the article presents a teaching experiment, where students, based on self-organization, study and discuss basic texts in order to encourage critical thinking.</p> </ul>
Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:51:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_004
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_004Legal Dogmatics and Academic Education<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Previously a model was developed whereby the evolution of dogmatic legal theory design can be made more explicit. This concerns, amongst other aspects, the application of the empirical cycle constructed by De Groot, which forms the final element of an evolution of the application of mundane knowledge to theory design. The starting point of this article is that this evolution must be ‘repeated’ during an academic study in empirical subjects. The objective is to investigate how this is done in the legal dogmatic education.</p> </ul>
Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:51:00 +0100http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/2/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_002_003Paradigms and Critical LearningWed, 05 Sep 2018 09:02:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/1/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_001_001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/1/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_001_001Kuhn and Legal Research<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article seeks to describe a paradigmatic view on legal research, based on the thought processes underlining Kuhn’s <em>The Structure of Scientific Revolutions</em>, in particular as how revolutionary change is coming about through a reflexive attitude towards developments that do not fit in the prevailing assumptions in an existing paradigm or research methodology. It allows for a description of ‘normal legal research’ and the assumptions upon which normal legal research is based. It also allows for an explanation as to how these assumptions are no longer exclusively valid but carry with them limitations in the face of structural developments at the level of society. An important feature of the paradigmatic view, then, is that it is able to take issue with these developments by incorporating social theory in our understanding of law.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:02:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/1/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_001_002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/1/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_001_002A Plea for Rigorous Conceptual Analysis as a Central Method in Transnational Law Design<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Although shared legal problems are generally easily identified in transnational law design, it is considerably more difficult to design frameworks that transcend the peculiarities of local law univocally. The following exposition is a plea for giving more prominence to rigorous conceptual analysis in transnational law design in order to disambiguate the terms used in such frameworks. It does this by taking the formation of contracts in the model rules of the Draft Common Frame of Reference (DCFR) as a case in point. A conceptual analysis of the basic legal notion ‘juridical act’ in its model rules for contract law shows that the DCFR allows for two mutually conflicting interpretations of contract formation that are by no means fictional. A rigorous conceptual analysis of basic legal notions in the formative stages of transnational law design would have prevented a conflation of two legal traditions resulting in an ambiguous legal framework. As such it is an indispensable method for achieving a univocal interpretation of the legal end product.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:02:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/1/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_001_004
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/1/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_001_004The Role of Hierarchy, Example, and Language in Learning<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In <em>The Voice of Liberal Learning</em>, Michael Oakeshott characterizes learning as a strictly non-instrumental activity. In schools and universities, knowledge is acquired for its own sake. Obviously, this liberal understanding of education differs fundamentally from a ‘critical’ notion of education as advocated by Duncan Kennedy and other members of the CLS movement. From a ‘critical’ perspective, Oakeshott’s conception may be seen as yet another attempt – typical for liberalism and conservatism alike – to depoliticize the process of knowledge production and reproduction and to conceal (and thereby to strengthen and legitimize) its effects on the distribution of power, wealth, status and so forth in society. In this paper, the author will confront both views with each other, especially within the context of legal education. The general purpose is to develop a notion of skeptical legal education, which is to a large extent based on Oakeshott’s understanding of liberal learning but which relativizes its insistence on the non-instrumentality of learning and reinforces its critical potential.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:02:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/1/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_001_003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2013/1/ReM_2212-2508_2013_003_001_003Grondslagen en methoden van juridisch onderwijs<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article aims at elucidating some methodological dilemmas which should be taken seriously in legal education. It also aims at articulating the process of how these dilemmas emerged both historically and philosophically. The article starts with the observation that our Western legal systems are rooted in a specific theoretical tradition which can be described as being twofold. In a first already ancient (pre-philosophical) conception, theory finds its nexus both in experience and in narrativity, whereas a more modern conception of theory focuses on logical and conceptual coherence, building a system of professional knowledge. The author argues for a combination of both theoretical conceptions as complementary cornerstones of legal educational programs.The twofold theoretical background of our Western legal tradition can offer us a welcome and fruitful basis for dealing with some important methodological dilemmas: an anascopic (from action to institution) vs a katascopic (from institution to action) approach; deductive vs inductive reasoning; problem-oriented thinking vs systems thinking; case based/case oriented vs doctrinal/conceptual thinking. The author argues for a dialectical complementarity between the respective poles of these dilemmas.Finally, the author argues for introducing – already in an early stage of the program –European Union legal thinking as a challenging laboratory ‘in action’ for searching a reflective equilibrium in dealing with the aforementioned methodological dilemmas.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_002Hoe moet recht worden onderwezen?<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>The central issue of this paper is to outline a scientifically oriented course in law. Most actual courses focus on positive law, and the main conclusion of this paper is that this is wrong. This conclusion is based on the premise that law is not by definition positive law, but the answer to the question which rules should be enforced by collective means. This premise is argued in the full paper.Positive law is law to the extent that it should be enforced by collective means, and not by definition. Therefore a scientific course in law should pay some attention to positive law, but should not assign it the dominant place in the curriculum which it presently tends to have.To make this abstract idea more concrete, some proposals are made for a law curriculum. The starting point is that the law bachelor should only address positive law where this is necessary for exercises in legal reasoning. Moreover it should address the viable fundamental visions on the nature of law, the main theories about normative reasoning (main currents in ethics), and the facts which are relevant in the light of these normative theories for the question which norms should be enforced by collective means. These facts include both positive law and the results of the different sciences (e.g. psychology, sociology, economy, and biology) which are relevant to answer the normative question. Because there are too many scientific results to take in during a bachelor course, the study of the sciences should be replaced by an introduction to scientific method, which allows lawyers to evaluate the outcomes of scientific research. Finally, the bachelor course should also address ‘generic positive law’, the main questions which must be answered by legal systems and the most viable answers to these questions.The master phase of the curriculum should, for those lawyers who want to practice the positive law of a particular jurisdiction, be filled with the detailed study of the relevant positive law.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_003Exciting Times for Legal Scholarship<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Until recently, legal-dogmatic research stood at the undisputed pinnacle of legal scientific research. The last few years saw increasing criticism, both nationally and internationally, levelled at this type of research or at its dominant role. Some see this as a crisis in legal scholarship, but a closer look reveals a great need for facts, common sense, and nuance. Critics usually base their calls for innovation on a one-dimensional and flawed image of legal-dogmatic research. In this article, the author subsequently addresses the various critical opinions themselves and provide an overview of the innovations that are proposed. He concludes that there are a lot of efforts to innovate legal scholarship, and that the field is more multiform than ever, which is a wonderful and unprecedented state of affairs. This multiformity should be cherished and given plenty of room to develop and grow, because most innovative movements are still fledgling and need time, sometimes a lot of time, to increase in quality. It would be a shame to nip them in the bud now, merely because they are still finding their way. In turn, none of these innovative movements have cause to disqualify legal-dogmatic research, as sometimes happens (implicitly), by first creating a straw-man version of the field and then dismissing it as uninteresting or worse. That only polarises the discussion and gains us nothing. Progress can only be achieved through cooperation, with an open mind towards different types of legal research and a willingness to accept a critical approach towards their development. In the end, the only criterion that matters is quality. All types of research are principally subject to the same quality standards. The author provides some clarification regarding these standards as well. </p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_004
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_004Relational Jurisprudence<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>Relational jurisprudence is an approach to law that situates it in five relational contexts: (1) relations between individuals; (2) relations between individuals and communities; (3) relations between communities; (4) relations between individuals or communities on the one hand, and institutions on the other; and (5) relations between institutions. Thus, part of what makes relational jurisprudence distinctive is its object: the study of law in the context of certain relations, including investigating what factors affect and influence the quality of those relations. Relational jurisprudence is also distinctive, however, in its method. One of its methodological commitments is to avoid the dichotomy, without losing the benefits of a distinction, between facts and values. In trying to avoid this dichotomy, the approach identifies and uses devices that have both factual and evaluative dimensions, called here ‘factual-evaluative complexes’. These devices are then used to investigate the quality of different relations. One such device is ‘vulnerability’. The argument of this paper is that at least some of law can be profitably understood as managing vulnerability, i.e. recognising some vulnerabilities as worthy of protection and others not, or balancing the protection of different vulnerabilities in different relational contexts. Avoiding the dichotomy while retaining the usefulness of the distinction between facts and values in the above-outlined way means that we ought to employ a mix of empirical and normative methodology in the study of law. </p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_005
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_005Methodology and more…Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/2/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_002_001Research Methodologies in EU and International LawWed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_006
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_006Law and MethodWed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_007
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_007What Epistemology Would Serve Criminal Law Best in Finding the Truth about Rape?<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>This article answers the question of why and in what respects a ‘critical epistemology’, compared to a ‘scientific epistemology’, offers the better alternative for criminal law investigations into rape. By resuming the recent debate concerning the importance of scientific truth in criminal law investigations the author shows that this debate overlooks the cultural values that are necessarily involved in many criminal law cases. Such involvement of cultural values will be illustrated with a historical overview of law cases concerning rape in the context of a heterosexual relationship. Whereas value-free knowledge is the ideal strived for by a ‘scientific epistemology’, the basic idea of a critical epistemology is that knowledge is theory dependent and not free of values. Therefore this epistemology offers the best guarantees for acknowledging the values that are necessarily involved in many criminal law inquiries. </p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_005
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_005Revitalizing Paradigms: Exemplars in Legal Research and EducationWed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_001Zelfrealisatie in onderzoek en methode<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>A detailed description is offered of the debate concerning the question how – within the framework of a normative research question – relevant and operational test criteria can be formulated.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_002Hoe rechters denken<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In this paper the author attempts to answer the intriguing question how judges think by providing a description of the context of judicial decision-making from the insider’s perspective of a judge trainee. This paper demonstrates that in judicial training socialization plays an important formative role. Looking at a standard model for judging civil cases the author stresses that judicial decisions are essentially arbitrary in the true sense of the word and can only be understood from within the legal system. What makes judicial decisions special is not the argumentative method, but their status. One way the judicial power of decision is restricted is by the membership of judges of a professional group with a shared culture and tradition. The author is under the impression that the influence of this context of judicial decision-making on judging is underexposed in legal studies. This paper tries to give the initial impetus to a further exploration.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_004
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_004Legal Doctrine As a Non-Normative Discipline<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In this article, the author argues that legal doctrine is not more normative than other scientific disciplines. This argumentation is built on the claim that the distinction between descriptive and normative statements is too simple to analyze the nature of legal doctrine. In the author’s view, a more detailed analysis of legal statements helps to achieve a better and more accurate characterization of legal doctrine as a science. For this purpose, the author builds on the distinction of Aarnio and Niiniluoto between norm-descriptions, norm-contentions and norm-recommendations. She argues that legal doctrine consists mainly of empirical and non-empirical norm-descriptions and that it can therefore be considered as a non-normative discipline.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 09:00:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2012/1/ReM_2212-2508_2012_002_001_003Praktijkgericht juridisch onderzoek<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In dit artikel wordt de stelling verdedigd dat in een praktijkgericht juridisch onderzoek zowel juridische als empirische onderzoeksmethoden nodig zijn. De centrale onderzoeksvraag in een praktijkgericht juridisch onderzoek dient immers gerelateerd te zijn aan het recht en aan de praktijk, zodat het antwoord op de centrale vraag praktisch bruikbaar is. Vragen van het type ‘mag dat?’ of ‘werkt dit?’ kunnen die relaties met recht en praktijk goed over het voetlicht brengen en sturing geven aan de richting van het onderzoek. In het beredeneerde antwoord op de onderzoeksvraag komt de integratie van methoden en technieken uit de juridische en sociaalwetenschappelijke discipline tot uitdrukking. Het onderzoeksmodel dat in dit artikel wordt uitgebeeld en toegelicht, maakt deze integratie duidelijk en biedt een basis voor een methodologie van praktijkgericht juridisch onderzoek.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 08:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_006
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_006Legal Methods under DiscussionWed, 05 Sep 2018 08:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_002
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_002The Theory and Practice of Teaching and Guiding Legal Research Skills<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>The aim of this article is to present a case study of the development process and its underlying theoretical fundaments of a research skills line in the law degree programme. Broader educational purposes of the article are to give managers and lecturers of law schools suggestions for implementing research skills in their curriculum. Accordingly, the article is aimed at stimulating students’ research skills. This article will discuss the background to the decisions that were made in the Utrecht School of Law, then discuss the ultimate end result, namely the implementation of a new research skills line and the publication of a standard research skills instruction. Furthermore, each section will commence with a brief outline of the theoretical framework, followed by an explanation of how this theory has been practically implemented in the Bachelor of Law in Utrecht.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 08:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_005
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_005Thinking Like a LawyerWed, 05 Sep 2018 08:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_008
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_008Een nieuwe impuls aan het methodendebatWed, 05 Sep 2018 08:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_001
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_001Approaching Law through Conflicts<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In this article the author presents Latour’s negative analysis of modernity and his positive ethnographical studies of the modes of existence of our modern world. I will discuss the merits and disadvantages of his specific approach on law – an institutional ethnography of the French Conseil d’Etat – within this framework. The analysis will be supplemented with the results of a conflict-based approach to a case study in patent law at a law firm.</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 08:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_004
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_004Een discipline in transitie<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p>In 2010 verscheen het rapport <em>Kwaliteit &amp; diversiteit</em> van de Commissie Koers die het wetenschappelijk onderzoek van negen Nederlandse juridische faculteiten beoordeelde. De conclusie van het rapport is dat het ‘goed’ gaat met het rechtswetenschappelijk onderzoek in Nederland, maar tegelijkertijd ziet de Commissie ‘een discipline in transitie’. De Commissie dringt er bij de decanen van de faculteiten op aan om veel meer te gaan samenwerken. Als uitgesproken ‘zwak’ benoemt ze het gegeven dat er binnen de discipline geen algemeen gedeelde opvatting bestaat over de wetenschappelijke kwaliteit op grond waarvan onderzoeksresultaten beoordeeld kunnen worden. In deze bijdrage blikt de auteur aan de hand van de bevindingen van de Commissie Koers terug en trekt hij lijnen naar de toekomst. Volgens hem verdient vooral de externe oriëntatie aandacht: de wetenschappelijke verantwoording (<em>peer review, ranking</em>, impactmeting), de steeds belangrijker wordende maatschappelijke verantwoording, en de thematisering van het juridische onderzoek (de Europese ‘grand challenges’ en de Nederlandse topsectoren).</p> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 08:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_003
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_003Praktijkgericht juridisch onderzoek<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ul xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <p/> </ul>
Wed, 05 Sep 2018 08:59:00 +0200http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_007
http://www.bjutijdschriften.nl/tijdschrift/lawandmethod/2011/1/ReM_2212-2508_2011_001_001_007